Sorting machine



March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1959 14 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

l/VI/E/VTOR ALVIN E. GRAY LAWRENCE A. WILSON ATTORNEY March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL SORTING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 13, 1959 s 8 ME Q on Q: E?

as Q Q 2 a WE 3 March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL SORTING MACHINE 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 13, 1959 wll FIG. 3

March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1959 14 SheetsSheet 4 March 13, 1962 A. E GRAY ETAL SORTING MACHINE 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 15, 1959 March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1959 14 Sheets-Sheet 6 111 FIG 8 March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

' SORTING MACHINE Filed May 115, 1959 14 Sheets-Sheet '7 March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1959 14 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIG."

March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL 3,024,904

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1959 14 Sheets-Sheet 1O March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL SORTING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 11 Filed May 13, 1

AIM/ 11 IxI PMMQ March 13, 1962 A. E. GRAY ETAL SORTING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed May 15, 1959 Patented Mar. 13, 1962 3,024,904 SORTENG MACHINE Alvin E. Gray, Binghamton, N.Y., and Lawrence A.

Wilson, San Jose, Calif, assignnrs to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed May 13, 1959, Ser. No. 813,037 12 Claims. (Cl. 209-74) This invention relates to a sorting machine, and, in particular, to a fully automatic sorting machine for sorting punched cards.

A sorting machine generally comprises a hopper which contains a deck of cards to be sorted, and a picker knife arm which picks otf a card from the deck and delivers it through a throating device into a set of feed rolls. The cards contain perforations representing bits of information. The cards are passed through sensing means, such as electrical sensing brushes, which sense the openings in the cards. When a perforation in the card passes under the brush it enables the brush to complete a circuit and a signal or impulse is sent to a sorting magnet which then operates a particular chute blade to deflect the card into a particular pocket. As each card passes under the brushes, the signal transmitted to the sort magnets determines the pocket into which the card will ultimately be delivered. Whenever more than one sort is required to obtain the desired information, the brushes are reset to another position in order to select the other desired information as represented by the columns of perforations on the cards.

When the machine has finished one sorting step of a group of cards, the cards must be returned from the pockets to their initial position in the hopper and the machine reset for the next sort. Present practice requires an operator to remove the sorted cards from the pockets and return them to the hopper while maintaining the cards in sequence, and to move the brushes, or other sensing means, to the next column to be sorted.

Although a fully automatic machine has been recognized as a desirable feature for sorting machines, various card transporting problems have made it difiicult to attain.

During a sorting operation, the pockets in present machines do not generally receive the same amount of cards. For example, a smaller number of cards are sorted into one pocket while a larger number may be sorted into another pocket. Normally, if a pocket becomes filled, the machines are designed to stop so as to prevent jamming of cards. Therefore, there is a requirement that the machine have the attention of an operator to remove the cards from the pockets that become almost filled in order to enable the machine to sustain its operation, although the total number of cards sorted does not fill the total capacity provided of all of the pockets.

Previously, the card stock was fed horizontally toward a picker knife with the cards standing on one of their edges, and then picked off by the picker knife which operated vertically. Although a constant weight was exerted on the stack, the Weight was not uniformly distributed. The constant weight did not account for the yield or warp that the cards inherently have, which changes with decrease of the number of cards, and, therefore, resulted in a limitation on the speed at which the machine could operate. Thereafter, the design of the sorting machine was changed so that the stack of cards was vertically placed in the hopper with the cards laying on their flat side and the picker knife operating horizontally. This was done to permit the operator to more readily add more cards to the stack while the machine was operating. Also, the weight of the cards plus other additional weights permitted a higher speed of card feeding. With this type of feeding, the cards are sorted into groups into separate sort pockets. However, with this arrangement, it is difiicult to automatically remove the cards from the pockets and still maintain the cards in proper sequence so as to automatically deliver them to the main hopper.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to automatically remove sorted cards from the pockets of a sorting machine in such a manner as to maintain their sequence while returning them to the hopper for the next sorting step.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a hopper for an automatic sorter in which the cards are stacked to rest on their edge and yet urged toward the picker knife by moving the cards transversely to this edge, and also provide pockets into which the cards are sorted in a manner to rest on the edge and an auxiliary hopper into which the cards are transferred by moving them along their edge and from there moving the cards from the auxiliary hopper into the main hopper along this same card edge.

It is another object of the invention to provide automatic means to shift a sorting circuit from one brush to another brush, or from one line or column of sensing to another line or column, for each additional sort regardless of the number or order of the lines or columns, in order to automatically sort out cards containing the desired information.

It is a further object of the invention to maintain the sequence of the sorted cards by sorting the cards in the pockets in such a manner as to lay on their edge, and maintain the groups of sorted cards in close proximity to prevent them from falling on their sides while being transported.

It is another further object of this invention to feed cards in the hopper in a direction transverse to the plane of the card with the cards standing on their longest edge while the picker knife is operating to deliver the cards in a direction coinciding with the plane of the card, and to provide a card transport means to overcome the friction that was previously exerted on the edge of the cards as they were moved over the bed of the hopper, to thereby maintain a substantially uniform pressure of the cards at the picker knife and throat area so as to be capable of picking cards at higher speeds without unacceptable card damage.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an automatic sorter in which the cards are sorted into pockets, which automatically expand to accept each additional card entering a pocket, and as each pocket is expanded in size, the succeeding pockets are shifted to a new card receiving position so as to make the cards transportable and maintained in sequence when the cards are transported from the pockets.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a sorting mechanism having a plurality of expandable sorting pockets in which the overall length of the pockets increases by an amount substantially equal to the increase in size of one of the pockets, which increase in size is equal to the thickness of the card that is about to be received by that pocket so that the cards are more readily transportable, by automatic means, to a hopper.

It is yet another further object of this invention to provide an automatic sorting machine with expandable pockets for receiving cards which simultaneously deflect the cards into the pocket and automatically increase in size, and to provide means for retracting the pockets to their original size after a sort is completed and the cards removed from the pockets so that the pockets are in position to again receive cards which have been automatically removed from the pockets and returned to the hopper for the next sort.

spasms It is considered another object of this invention to provide automatically operated pressure plates in both the auxiliary hopper and main hopper, the pressure plates maintaining the cards in upright position so as to enable them to be transported and moved.

It is also another object of this invention to provide a card transporting mechanism for transporting the stack of cards into the main hopper at a position spaced from the picker knife, and to provide means for positioning the stack adjacent the picker knife.

Briefly stated and in accordance with one aspect of this invention, we provide an automatic means for returning the cards from the pockets of a sorting machine to the hopper in order to be resorted, where the cards are sorted into pockets having a plurality of dividers which are expandable so as to maintain the cards in close proximity to enable them to be transported, transporting. the cards into a tray which is transported adjacent the hopper for removal into the hopper, and to provide card transport means in the hopper to engage the card stack in the hopper to insure proper feeding of cards at the picker knife.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of examples, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the path of the cards as they are sorted into the pockets, and transported from the pockets to the main hopper for the next sort.

FIG. 2 is a view showing details of the card feed and sorting mechanism including the expandable pockets.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view partially showing the timing belt, expandable pockets and pocket selecting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the restoring mechanism for the expandable pockets.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the card transport mechanism for transporting the cards from the expandable pockets to the main hopper.

FIGS. 6-9 show various positions of the cam latches and pocket opening levers.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing how the rolls are raised and rotated to transport the cards.

FIG. 11 is a view partly in section showing the mechanism for raising the card transport tray to the main hopper.

FIG. 12 is a view partly in section showing the means for driving the auxiliary hopper pressure plate.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the drive for the main hopper pressure plate.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing how the main hopper pressure plate exerts a pressure on the card deck which is maintained within a narrow range.

FIG. 15 is a view showing the card transport mechanism at its low position.

FIG. 16 is a view showing the card transport tray in its up position adjacent the main hopper.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a portion of the card transport tray mechanism.

FIGS. 18a and 1812 are views of the circuit diagram for operating the machine.

FIG. 19 is a timing chart showing the sequence of operations.

Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram is shown of the path of travel of the cards. In general, cards 18 are fed from a hopper 10, into an expandable pocket mechanism 12 and from there moved into a card transport means 14 to transport the cards back to the hopper 10 as shown by the arrows 16. The cards 18 are stacked side-by-side on one of their long edges, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the cards are fed downwardly transversely of their long lower edge so as to be singly 4, picked by the picker knife 20, and fed by feed rolls 21 past sensing means 22 which sends a signal to a distributor 24. The cards then pass into a timing card transport means 25 for maintaining the cards in timed sequence and which will hereinafter be more fully explained. The distributor 24 is a part of a selector mechanism 27, the distributor being timed with card movement to send a signal from a single brush at the appropriate time to a pair of magnets 26 so as to actuate one of the chute blades 28 and deflect the card into one of the expandable pockets 30. There are as many pairs of magnets as there are pockets. The cards are thereafter automatically removed from the pockets into a card tray transporting system (FIG. 5) by a card roll device generally designated at 34 (see also FIG. 10). The transporting system comprises a card tray or auxiliary hopper 32 (FIG. 5) and linkage means 36 for automatically transporting the tray and cards from a position adjacent the pockets 30 to a position adjacent the hopper 10 where they are automatically removed into the main hopper 10 at a location spaced from the picker knife 20 for continuing the sorting process. The cards 18 are then moved toward the picker knife 20 by an automatic pressure means 40 to till the gap 41. Automatic pressure means 39 is provided in the auxiliary hopper for maintaining the cards in an upright position and compact. Also, the automatic pressure means 40 is provided in the main hopper for maintaining substantially uniform pressure on the cards and thereby exert a substantially constant pres sure at the picker knife as the cards are removed from the hopper.

The timed card feed, the expandable pocket system, selector mechanism, the clutched sequence cam unit, the card tray transport system for emptying the pockets and reloading the hopper, including the variable pressure means for supporting the cards in the auxiliary hopper and for maintaining pressure on the cards in the main hopper, the timed mechanical drive means, and electrical circuit will now be individually described.

Timed Card Feed An important consideration in sorting cards in a sorting machine is that of timing. In other words, the operations to be performed on the card must take place in sequence. :For example, the timing of the delivery of the card to the sensing means 22 is important to actuate the proper chute blade 28 so as to deflect that :card into that chute at the exact moment that the card arrives at the pocket. Otherwise, additional sensing means would be required in order to determine Where the particular card that you were sensing is located in the machine. By accurately timing the card from the instant it is placed into motion by the picker knife, the various operations can be timed to take place.

Therefore, in order to feed cards in timed relationship and to actuate the appropriate chute blade to deflect the card into its proper pocket, picker knife 20 delivers cards according to a timed relationship (FIG. 2). The cards are fed past sensing brushes 22 by feed rolls 21, 56 and between the guide plates 52 and '54. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, and in order to still maintain the cards in timed relation with the remainder of the machine, two pairs of feed rolls 58 together with the guide plates 52 and 54 form a guide path for feeding cards onto two timing belts 56 (see also FIG. 5). "Extending through the guide path is a card lever mechanism (FIG. 11) which closes contacts at 55 when cards feed past and depress the lever 57. The contacts will remain closed'until the last card of a sort has passed. The card lever is sufliciently long to overlap the gap between the cards so as to maintain the contacts closed during a complete sort. The contacts will thereafter reopen under their own spring tension. The purpose of the card lever mechanism will be more fully explained under the section entitled, Circuit Description and Timing Chart. The

timing belt 56 is kept in proper timed relationship by being supported by and driven by sprocket wheels 66 and shaft 62 (also FIG. 2). It is intended that the drive for shaft 62 be connected to the same drive means as the picker knife to maintain the timing relationship. The other end of the timing belt 56 is supported on and passed around sprocket wheels 64 which are rotatably mounted on a shaft 66, which shaft is rotatably mounted in a pair of spring biased arms 68. For purposes of this invention, a pair of sprocket wheels 60 (FIG. 5) and 64 is used. The spring 67 (FIG. 2) enables the spring arms 68 to maintain each belt 56 in a tight condition at all times. The teeth 70 that mate with the sprocket wheels 60 and 64 are positioned near the marginal edges of the belts thereby providing a smooth surface 71 (FIG. 3) in the center portion of each belt so that each may "ride against the under side of a vacuum channel 72. Vacuum can be supplied to the channel in any well-known manner such as a conduit 74 for each belt 56.

Since it is important to insure proper timing of the card throughout the sensing and feeding operations, a series of lugs 76 are provided on each belt 56 which extend across the belt and are spaced equally around the periphery of the belt. The lugs 76 are spacedly positioned so as to main the cards in timed relation with the picker knife, feed rools, reading brushes 22, etc., from the time that the card is picked from the hopper. In addition to maintaining the cards in the proper location and timed relationship to the other timed operation, the lugs 76 also assist in pushing the cards into the proper sorting pocket 30, the details of which will be more fully hereinafter explained.

In order that the belts 56 can positively retain and support the cards when the cards are brought around to the underside of the belt 56, openings 78 (FIG. 3) are provided in the central portion of each timing belt between each pair of lugs and positioned so as to be aligned with the vacuum channels, and in that manner serve as vacuum ports to support the cards against the belts.

The Expandable Pockets Reference is now made to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 which show an expandable pocket system for stacking the sorted cards in the least amount of space so as to make them more readily transportable. Each pocket 30 is defined by two plates 80 and 82, two such plates forming a divider as best shown in FIG. 3. In order to provide a plate from which all of the other plates move or expand, a reference plate 84 (FIG. 2) is provided and is mounted so as to be stationary. A U-shaped notch 86 (FIG. 3) is provided in the plates 80 so as to ride on side rail 88. The other sides of the plates 80 also contain notches 86 to permit the side rail 88 to support the plates 80. The plates 82 contain elongated notches 87, the purpose of which will be more fully hereinafter explained. Now, the plates 82 also are provided with rectangular openings 9! but these openings 96 are elongated to permit the plates 82 to move vertically whenever the plate is energized upwardly. This will permit the plate 82 to extend up into the path of the card so as to strip the card from the belts to deflect the card into the pocket 30. Not only do the plates 82 have elongated notches 87 so as to ride on rails 88 along with the plates 80, but they are also slidably supported on the plates -85 so as to move vertically with respect to the plate 80 since they form the deflecting chute blades for deflecting the cards. For this purpose we provide elongated slots 92 (FIG. 3) in the plate 82, there being at least two for each plate. Studs or the like 94 are shown mounted in the slots 92 and are fastened to the plates 80. We have shown the second plate 32 in its upward position as shown at 82'. The plates 80 and 82 are slidably mounted on the rails 88 to enable the 6 pockets to increase in size, so as to make room for the cards as they are deflected into the pockets.

Since the pockets formed by the plates 81 and 82 are in an expanded condition when all of the cards have been sorted, the plates must be restored to their original or contracted position before the start of each sort. Therefore, after the cards are removed from the pockets and returned to the hopper, we provide thin pocket restoring bars 96, one pair fastened to the plate reference '84 and each remaining pairs fastened to separate plates 80. Each plate has a pair of such bars fixed to it, which bars then extend through the openings 96 in the remaining plates 81 and 82 from right to left as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4. The bars 96 are slidably mounted at their other ends in a stationary support plate 38 (FIG. 2). It is to be noted that the outermost pair of bars 96 are fixed to the plate 93 at 97. This results in the pair of bars 96 connected to each plate 80 or 84 being shorter than an adjacent pair of bars by the width of a contracted pocket. The significance of this will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

In order that the plate 82 for each pocket can be deflected or urged upwardly into the path of the cards, and also to be returned to its original position, a pair of brackets 100 (FIG. 3, only one being shown) is fixed to the movable plate 8 2 and a pair of brackets 162 (only one being shown) is fixed to the stationary plate 80. A pair of springs 104 (only one being shown) is mounted betwen these two brackets 160 and 102 so as to urge the plate 82 downward below the card. feed path to a retracted position. In order to provide a means for deflecting the card into the pocket, the upper portion of each plate 82 is curved to the right, as shown at 106 in FIG. 3. The curved portion 106 also contains two deflector tongues 108 which extend down into the pocket to direct the cards over rollers 1 10 which will be hereinafter more fully explained. Still referring to FIG. 3, it is noted that the upper curved portion 106, which deflects the card into the pocket, would normally interfere with the timing bel ts 56 when the plate 82 is in its upward position. In order to avoid any interference, a recess 1 12 is shown at this location in the plate 82 so as to avoid engagement with the belt 56.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, arid as pointed out previously, the cards are assisted into the pockets 30 by the lugs 76 in addition to the curved portion 106 on the defiector chute blade 82, and the deflector tongues 108. However, since the timing belt is operating at a high speed, a more positive means is provided for pulling the card down into the pockets. Gravity alone, with the assistance of the lugs 76, deflector blades 106 and deflector tongues 10 8, are insufficient to pull the card down and away from the timing belt 56, or to strip it from the belt 56 in a sufliiciently small time. Therefore, in order to more quickly pull the cards down and away from the belt 56, we provide the two friction rollers 11% which are mounted on shafts 114 which are in turn mounted for rotation in ears 1 16 struck outwardly from the plates 82. As best seen in FIG. 3, each shaft 114 also carries a pulley 118 and a fly wheel 1 20 which permits the shaft 114 to spin for some time after it is removed from engagement with high speed belt 122 which will be more fully explained.

To further assist the cards being pulled down into the pocket 30, we provide deflector tongues 108', friction rollers 1 10" mounted on shafts 114 which carry a pulley 118 and fly wheel 1 20 (FIGS. 2 and 3). Another high speed belt 122 is provided for rotating the rollers In order to set the two sets of friction rollers 110, 110' (FIG. 2) in rotational motion so as to pull the card down after the card has been sensed and the proper plate 82 has been energized into position to deflect the card, two flat belts 122, 122' are mounted for high speed rotation on two pairs of pulleys 124 and 126.

In addition, pulleys 126 are mounted on belt tightener spring bell crank arms 128 so as to maintain the belts. in a tightened condition at all times.

Therefore, when the cards are sensed and a signal is received to actuate the plate 82 to deflect the card into a particular pocket, the plates 82 are pushed up to strip the card from the vacuum belt 56 and the pulleys 118, 118' are brought into contact with the high speed belts. 122, 122 thereby causing the shafts 114, 114 to spin and cause rollers 110, 110' to pull the card down into the pocket. In addition, the inertia of the fly wheels 120, 120 will keep the shafts 114, 115 spinning for some time after the plates 82 have been returned to their normal position to insure complete removal of the card from the belts.

When more than one plate 82 is energized so as to be pushed up, one of the pulleys 118 may push up on the belt 122 so that the other pulleys would not be in contact with the belt 122. To insure that there is some contact, means are provided to hold the belt 122 down so as to insure engagement of [the pulleys 118 and the belt 122. This can be accomplished by a flat guide plate extending across the belt for holding the belt down, or by using spring biased rolls. For this par-ticular embodiment, we prefer to use auxiliary spring rolls 125 acting on belt 122 to insure contact between the pulleys 1 18 and belts 122 when more than one plate 82 is pushed up simultaneously. The same type rolls can be used for belt 122.

As the cards are deflected into the pockets, they are stacked in each pocket on their edge rather than on their fiat side so as to make it convenient for them to be removed from the pockets and then transported up into the hopper. Also, the cards are maintained in their upright position, so as not to fall over, by the dividers. 80, 82 being automatically sized to the number of cards in each pocket. The pocket increases in size only after a signal has been received that it is to receive another card. When this happens, not only is that pocket increased in size by the thickness of the card, but all of the other pockets thereafter are shifted by the same amount to a different card receiving position. Also, if simultaneously one card is entering a pocket while an earlier pocket is about to receive a card, the former pocket will not only increase in size but will also shift its card receiving position. It is also possible for an earlier pocket to be receiving a card so as to shift the position of a later pocket while that later pocket is increasing in size to receive a card designated for that pocket. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, and particularly FIG. 3, this is accomplished by providing a clutching lever 130 around each restoring bar 96. The clutching lever 130 is urged into cramping relation with the restoring bars 96 by springs 132 and cam 134. Whenever a signal is received from sensing a particular card that it is to be deflected into a particular pocket, plate 82 of that particular pocket is urged upwardly carrying with it the cam 134. As cam 134 is carreid upwardly, it moves against the nose 136 of the clutching lever 130 which forces the plates 82 and 80 to the left and is cumulative when more than one plate is pushed up. Since the clutch lever 130 straddles the restoring bar 96 (FIG. 3) and is slidably mounted thereon, it will be in a cramped or latching position whenever the cam is urged against the nose of the clutching lever. The cam being fastened to the plate 82, pushes against the nose 136 and moves the plate 82 to the left. The pocket will be increased in size to receive the card just prior to the card entering the pocket rather than afterward. Therefore, when the plate 82 returns to its normal position, it will also carry along with it the cam 134 so that the spring 132 will urge the nose 136 of the clutching lever 130 to follow the cam 134 to its lower position and thus release the clutching action of the clutching lever 130 against the restoring bar 96. The spring 132 will now slide the clutching lever 130 to the left along the restoring bar to a new clutching position.

As each pocket increases in size, the pockets which follow in sequential order shift their card receiving positions by that same amount. This is accomplished by having the cams 134 always in engagement with the noses 136 of clutching levers 130 and the other plates 86 slidably mounted on the bars 96 which are supported at their other ends by the support plate 98 (FIG. 2).

In order to aid the releasing of the clutch levers 130 and restoration of the plates and 82 to their original retracted position, a clutch release rod 140 (see also FIG. 4) is positioned on the top of each restoring bar 96. These rods are of various lengths and extend from the left end of each restoring bar to within a short distance from the upper end of each clutching lever Referring more particularly to FIG. 4, these rods pass through the slots 90 in the plates for the restoring bars 96 and are free to move a short distance to the right when pressure is applied against their left ends. Springs 142 are provided so as to urge the clutch release rods normally to the left. In order to restrict the movement of the clutch release rods 140 by the springs 142, lugs 144 nest in the notches 146 in restoring bars 96. After the cards are removed from the pockets 30 and its is desired to restore the pockets to their normal contracted starting position, pressure is applied to the left end of the clutch release rods 140 by a bail 148, as shown in the lower left portion of FIG. 2. This causes the clutch release rods 140 to move to the right and release all of the clutching levers 130. Further movement of the bail 148 and clutch release rods 140 brings the L-shaped portion 150 (FIG. 4) of the rods against the ends 152 of the restoring bars 96. Further movement of the bail 148 against the restoring rods 96 moves the plates or dividers 80, 82 to restore the pockets to their normal position.

In order that each plate 82 be capable of being moved in a vertical direction when a card is sensed and the particular pocket for that card determined, each plate 82 is provided with two ears or tabs 154 which project downward. The pair of ears for each plate is offset from the ears of an adjacent plate (as best seen in FIG. 4) so that they do not lie in the same path. This enables the plates to be actuated by a particular pocket opening lever, which will be hereinafter more fully explained, so that only one plate will be actuated for each card.

Selector Mechanism In order that a card be deflected into a particular pocket when that card approaches the particular pocket, sensing brushes 22 (FIG. 2) are provided for sensing impulses from the card and to direct the impulses to the sorting distributor 24 which energizes the sorting magnets 26 at the appropriate time. There are two sorting magnets 26 designated for each plate 82. Therefore, for this particular embodiment there will be twenty-six such magnets although the number will depend upon the number of plates 82 and pockets used. Each sorting magnet 26 has associated with it an armature (FIGS. 6-9) which is attracted to it when a pulse is received. Release latches 162 are pivotally mounted and spring biased by spring 163 toward a bail 164. A slot 166 is provided in the armature 160 so as to be engaged by the release latch 162. Therefore, when the armature 160 is attracted to the magnet 26, the release latch 162 will rock against the bail 164 to prevent relatching until the magnet is subsequently de-energized. It will be noted that each armature 160 is pivotally mounted in the sorting magnet assembly on a fixed arm 165a and is biased away from the magnet coil by a spring 168. The release latch 162 follows the bail 164 when the follower 184 rides up the high portion of the cam 186, provided the magnet is energized. However, when the magnet is not energized, the armature 160 will latch up the release latch 162 so that the latter cannot follow the movement of bail 164 as it responds to the 8 follower 184 and cam 186. The various combinations of energizing and de-energizing of the magnet 26 and the latching and unlatching of the release latch levers 162 permit controlled movement of the lever 162 and pocket opening levers 167. This will be described in more detail hereinafter.

In order for the release latch 162 to transmit the signal it receives to the plate 82 of the pocket so as to actuate it upwardly and thereby deflect the card into the pocket, a sprocket drive chain 165 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is provided which is slightly wider than the card and so aligned as to travel below the pockets and also below the sorting magnets 26. The sprocket drive chain 165 is provided with lever means which is actuated by the releasing latches 162, which lever means in turn operates on the tab 154 of the plate 82. This lever means is in the form of pocket opening levers 167.

The pocket opening levers 167 are mounted on shafts 169. For this embodiment there are twenty-six levers 167 in each row, or thirteen pairs on a shaft 169 to coincide with the number of pockets 30, sorting magnets 26, and latches 162. Fixed to the links adjacent the pocket opening levers is a spring support 170 (FIG. 3) extending the width of the chain. The spring support 170 supports the pocket opening lever detent springs 172 and acts as a stop for the pocket opening levers 167 when they are restored to their original position. The links of the chain 165, not connected by shafts 169, are connected by chain pivots 174 which do not extend all the way through the levers but merely extend through the adjacent links. As the chain pivots 169 and 174 leave sprocket wheel 175, they enter a guide slot 176 which prevents pressure exerted on the pocket opening levers from displacing the levers.

In order that a pocket opening lever 167 find the plate 82 for a designated pocket so as to deflect the card into that pocket, the pocket opening levers 167 are first carried past the latches 162 by the movement of the chain 165. Reference is now made to FIGS. 6-9 which show different positions of the pocket opening levers 167 and release latches 162. It is noted that there are thirteen pairs of magnets 26 in a row, whereas there are several rows of pocket opening levers 167, there being thirteen pairs in each row (see FIG. 2). Also, a row of pocket opening levers passes the row of magnets at the same time that the magnets are responsive to an impulse received from a card that is read. The impulse may take place at one of thirteen different time locations, twelve on the card and one following. Therefore, the magnet representing a selected pocket must be impulsed before the pocket opening lever reaches that magnet. The intermediate dwell portion on the cam 186 is designed to permit this to take place. Also, it is important to note that each row of pocket opening levers slightly leads the card after it is read (see FIG. 2) so that when the pocket opening lever finally finds the correct pocket it will energize its plate 82 in time to receive that card.

Referring to FIG. 6, the pocket opening lever 167 is shown leaving the release latch 162. At this time, the follower 184 is riding on the low side of the cam and the magnet 26 is tie-energized so that the armature 160 latches up the release latch 162 so that it cannot engage the pocket opening levers unless and until the magnet is energized. As the next row of pocket opening levers approach the row of magnets, the pair of magnets, representing the index point sensed in the card, is impulsed (FIG. 7). The cam is designed to have a substantially long intermediate dwell portion to accommodate the time it takes to read the card, for example, the thirteen index point. The magnet may be energized during any portion of the intermediate dwell so that the release latch 162 can drop against the bail 164. The magnet is energized for only a short period of time merely to unlatch the lever 162 to permit it to follow the bail 164. However, the armature cannot relatch the latch 162, even 10 though the magnet is de-energized, until bail 164 restores latch 162 into alignment with notch 166; this will occur only when follower 184 rides onto the low point of the cam 186 (see FIG. 6).

Meanwhile the intermediate cam dwell portion is designed to position the bail 164 so that the latch lever will clear the notch 180 on the pocket opening lever 167. The impulse from the magnet is therefore stored in the latch 162 until it is transmitted to the pocket opening lever 167.

The cam 186 is designed so that the high portion is timed to act on the bail and latch 162 when the nose 182 is located between the notch 180 and abutment 185 (FIG. 8). The latch 162 drops along with bail 164 so that the nose 182 is in position to catch onto the abutment 185. The latch 162 will drop with the bail 1.64 even though the magnet is now de-energized since it is unlatched. The armature cannot yet latch the lever 162 since the lever 162 is beyond the slot 166 in the armature.

There is a row of latches 162, and a row of magnets 26, and although there are a plurality of rows of pocket opening levers, only one pair of pocket opening levers will be actuated as a result of each pulse.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, where the selected pair of release latches 162 are shown transmitting the stored impulse from the latch 162 to the pocket opening lever 167 by the hook 181 acting on the abutment 185. Engagement of the hook 181 and abutment 185 causes the pocket opening lever 167 to rotate clockwise bringing the notch 180 into position to engage the particular tab 154 that lies in its path. As the lever 167 rotates clockwise, the intermediate camming portion 183 will engage the nose 182 of the latch 162 resulting in the disengagement of the hook 181 and the abutment 185. That plate 82 which contains the tab 154 that matches the selected pocket opening lever 167 will be :raised.

When follower 184 rides into the low portion of the earn 186, the release latch 162 will enter slot 166 and be latched up in the position shown in FIG. 6 until the magnet is impulsed again. Overthrow of the levers 167 is prevented by contact of the tail 194 of lever 167 and cam 191. The frictional force of detent springs 172 (FIG. 3) on the levers 167 will now hold the levers 167 in an operative position to engage the tabs 154 on plates 82. At the same moment that hooks 181 disengage from the abutment 185, the follower 184 starts to drop off of the high point of the cam and onto the low point for causing the latches 162 to be relatched to the respective armatures. Any number of levers 167 can be used for actuating the plates 82 depending upon the timing and speed with which the cards are delivered.

The sprocket chain carries the levers 167 in synchronism with the card under the timing belts 56. This is to enable the levers to actuate the proper plate 82 to deflect the card into the proper pocket at the proper in stant. The notch on a pair of two pocket opening levers 167 will now actuate the mating tabs 154 on the plate 82, which lies in their path, for the pocket corresponding in number to the index point that has been sensed on the card by the brushes and transmitted to the sorting magnets.

In further describing the operation of the levers 167 and the tabs 154 (FIG. 3), when the notches 180 engage the tabs 154, the chain link 165 will again cause the levers 167 to rotate clockwise with respect to the pivot shaft 169 as the shaft passes under the actuated plate 82. The pocket opening levers 167 will thus force the plate 82 upward, and the upper curved portion 106 of the plate will pass above the end of the card, stripping it from engagement with the timing belt. The lugs 76 will urge the card downward between the deflector tongues 108 and the adjacent plate 80. The card will then come between the spinning friction rolls 110 and the plate 80 where it will be further urged into the pocket before the friction rolls stop spinning. As the pivot 169 passes plate 82,

ing magnets 26. The tail 194 of the lever 167 will ride on the cam 192 rotating the lever to its normal position before being actuated by the sorting magnets, and holding this position until it reaches the setup position under the latch 162 to start the sequence all over again.

Clutch Sequence Cam Unit Since this machine is fully automatic, a sequence of operation control unit is used to time the various functions. The unit consists of a number of contact cams on a onerevolution clutched shaft geared down to a slow r.p.m., for example, 3' rpm. Each cam is designed to engage a switch at a particular time in the cycle when a particular operation is to be performed. The cams are shown in FIGS. 18a and 18b and are timed to open or close switches In accordance with the timing chart, FIG. 19. Referring to FIG. 2, the sequence cam unit 195 is shown in clutchmg engagement with a retractable drive member 196. The retractable member is drivingly connected to the motor 530.. A magnet 197 is provided to actuate an armature 198 to disengage or engage the drive member 196 from the sequence cam unit 195.

Pcket Emptying and Hopper Reloading The last card sorted in any one sort impulses the magnet 197 to actuate the sequence unit 195 to start the cycle for emptying the pockets and for reloading the hopper 10 (FIG. 5). This will be described in greater detail in the wiring circuit description. However, mechamcally this is accomplished by lifting a plurality of rolls 200, 200' which lie under the pockets 30 and which are normally out of contact with the cards in the pockets but which may be raised into a position where they engage the cards (FIG. When these raised rolls are rotated, the cards are rolled out of the pockets onto raised rolls 201 in the auxiliary hopper. However, before raising the rolls and removing the cards from the pockets, the sequence unit first opens a circuit breaker to cause the picker knife 20 to stop actuating when the last card has passed the sensing means 22. Next, the sequence unit energies a magnet 202 whose armature 204 pivots counterclockwise so as to push a slide member '206. Only one side of this mechanism is shown and 'will be described since the other side is the same. The slide 206 abuts the end of an angle link 208 so as to actuate it. The angle link 208 is pivotally mounted at each end to a bell crank lever 210. The bell crank lever 210 is pivoted on bracket 212. The other end of the bell crank lever 210 abuts the end of link 214 at 216. The rear end 215 of link 214 abuts the front end of link 218. The link 214 is pivotally mounted to swinging bearing supports 219 and 220. The supports 219, 220 are individually pivoted to similar brackets 222. The link 218 is also connected to a bell crank 224 pivoted at 226. The other end of the bell crank 224 is pivoted to a link 228 which in turn is connected to a swinging bearing support 221.

r The support 221 is also pivoted at 230 to a support plate (not shown) and a bearing support 232. A swinging bearing support 221 is pivoted at 223 to a bracket 225. Again, only those parts at one side of the machine are shown but identical parts are located at the other side. The swinging bearing supports 219, 220, 221, 221 and 232 carry the shafts 234-, 236, 238, 240 and 242. These shafts support the rolls 200, 200 and 201. The outer periphery of these rolls is slightly below the card bed when the magnet 202 is deenergized so as not to be in contact with the cards. When the magnet 202 is energized, the rolls are raised sufficiently to lift the cards off of the bottom of the pockets and move them out onto the raised rollers 201 in the auxiliary hopper, the details of which will be more fully hereinafter explained.

The above description was directed to the manner in which the pocket rolls 200 and auxiliary hopper rolls 201 are raised so as to lift the cards from the respective card beds. The following is a description of how the rolls are energized to rotate after they have raised the cards so as to remove the cards from the pockets into the auxiliary hopper. Momentarily, after the roll lifting solenoid 202 is energized, clutch magnet 241 (FIG. ll) is energized. Magnet 241 attracts its armature 243 so as to pivot about 244 urging the driving clutch disc 247 against the driven clutch disc 248. Disc 248 is mounted on the end of shaft 236 so as to rotate the shaft 236 when it is frictiondriven by the continuously rotating disc 247. Shaft 234 is belt-driven from the shaft 236 (FIG. 10). Auxiliary hopper rolls 201 are rotated by shafts 234 and 236. In order to drive the pocket rollers 200, a continuously running shaft 250 is provided and centrally located above shafts 240 and 242, which shaft 250 carries a driving drum 252. When the shafts 240 and 242 are raised, the rolls 200 on these shafts contact the driving drum 252 which cause them to rotate. Shaft 238 is belt-driven from shaft 240 in order to drive the remaining pocket roller 200. The rolls 200, 200' and 201 are now raised and rotating counterclockwise so as to engage the cards in the pockets and thereby roll all of the cards out of the pockets into the auxiliary hopper 32 (FIG. 5).

Since each group of cards, after having been removed from the pockets into the auxiliary hopper, would normally be spaced from an adjacent group, we provide each plate 82 with a projection 261 (FIGS. 5 and 12) from the front of the pocket which carries a spring-hinged member 262 extending between the card groups. This prevents the card groups from falling over as they pass into the auxiliary hopper. The member 262 moves against the spring when the cards are compacted.

Adjustable pressure plates are provided to act on the cards in both the main hopper 10 and auxiliary hopper 32.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 5 and 13, the hopper automatic pressure means includes a main hopper pressure plate 272 which exerts pressure on the cards to force them into position so that the picker knife can pick them off. Therefore, in order to transport the cards from the auxiliary hopper to the main hopper, it is necessary to position the pressure plate 272 out of the way and then return it to its proper position to prevent the cards from falling over, and to feed the cards to the picker knife. In order to do this, the sequence unit will cause a latch relay 601 (in circuit diagram FIG. 18b) to pick at the same time that the rolls 234, 236, 238, 240 and 242 are raised. This relay will cause the main .hopper pressure plate motor 282 to drive reduction gears 283, 284, 285 so as to drive outer pin 286 (FIGS. 2, 13 andv 14). Gear 285 is free to rotate on shaft 295. Outer pin 286 Will cause the arm 287 to rotate counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 13. Arm 287 is linked to arm 288 by spring 290. As the arm 287 moves counterclockwise, the spring 290 exerts a tension on arm 288. Arm 288 is in contact with pin 289 fastened to disc 291 and causes disc 291, fastened to gear 292 and shaft 295, to rotate. Gear 292 drives gear 299 to drive a shaft 500 and a pair of tapes 270 (FIG. 2). The arms 287 and 288 are fastened to collars 293 and 294 respectively (FIG. 14). Collar 293 is free on shaft 295 except for pin 296 in the helical slot 298. Collar 294 is free on collar 293 except for the pin 296 in the helical slot 297.

If for any reason a greater drag is placed on shaft 500 or gear 292 than can 'be overcome by spring 290, the two arms will separate angularly and cause the collar 293 to move axially outwardly opening the microswitch 277 thus stopping the motor. Counterclockwise rotation of shaft 295 will be converted to clock-wise rotation of shaft 500 by gears 292 and 299 to ultimately drive the lower reaches 

